The cost of health

by Jessica Watters

The other day I got to thinking.  I had seen a post on the  P90X Blog that I answer questions on.  It was a guy who is in his later teens, he was over 250 lbs and was tired of being made fun of because of his weight.  He wanted someone to send him a free copy of P90X for him to get into shape.

While my heart did go out for him, I thought, would he really use the program to lose weight, or would it just sit on a shelf collecting dust.  The reason my mind went to the latter thought was because there are a lot of people who think that if something improved in their life or they lived under perfect conditions, then they could get into shape.

People tend to overlook the things in their lives that got them out of shape to begin with and then they overlook the free changes they can make in their life to get fit.

I wrote him back telling him that until he could afford to purchase P90X for himself, that he should try walking.  If someone hasn't worked out in a long time and they need to get back into shape, walking is an excellent way to start.  I also have a free video link that I posted to my blog a few months back.  Its an easy beginner's workout designed and instructed by Tony Horton.  If you know someone who could use it, please let me know.

Daily exercise is what we were designed for.  Humans were meant to do work.  Have you ever noticed that Amish people eat a diet that's high in fat, but most are very thin?  That's because they are outside working, moving around like were were supposed to do.  I know, we can't all do that now, life has changed, but that's why we need work up to squeezing in at least 45 minutes per day.  That's the minimum.  Most people don't even get half of that.

I also suggested that he stop drinking soda.  Soda is one of the biggest contributing factors to the rise in obesity amongst teens and young people. Yes, its fat-free, but its loaded with sugar and other unhealthy ingredients.  Just by not purchasing soda, he could have put that money towards the P90X workout that he so wanted.

Fast-food and convenience food is another things that can be harmless if only eaten once in awhile, but so many Americans eat it daily and more than once per day.  What has been put out there to help simplify our lives, is actually killing us.  Too much fat, sodium, cholesterol is leading to children being diagnosed with high blood pressure at younger ages.  When we were growing up, how many kids did you know that were either obese or had high-blood pressure?  Not many.  If the guy that wrote about his problem just stopped buying fast food each week he could lose weight and save enough to buy his P90X.

The sad part about all of this, is that it's not just this teen who needs help, but a lot of my friends.  They always ask me about what they should do, what they should eat.  I kindly give them my advice and then they say "well before I can do that, this has to happen..." or "I don't think I can afford that."

I can respect the fact that money is very tight.  I know, I'm living it too.  But if you figured out how much you spend on the things that you know are bad for you like cigarettes, soda, high fat snack foods, fast food, frozen meals, high sugar snacks, processed meats, etc. do you know how much money you would save if you stopped buying them?  Or how much weight you would lose?  And how low your blood pressure and bad cholesterol would get.

Listen, I'm not a buzz kill.  I like to have an occasional indulgence.  Hey, occasional is good.  But we've gotten out of hand with what we feel we're entitled to.  We feel we deserve the high sugar, high fat latte everyday.  Or we deserve the doughnut with our morning coffee.

Don't just think about getting back into shape - do it now.  There is never going to be the perfect day or time to do it.  If you keep putting it off it could lead to deadly results.  There is no better investment you can make than in improving your health or your children's health.

If you don't think you can do it alone, I can help you.  So far I am helping over 1,000 people in the US and Canada take charge of their health.  People just like you.

If you need help or know someone who does, please email me at wattersjes@msn.com or you can go to my website at http://beachbodycoach.com/fitwithjessica for help.  Besides P90X, there are a lot of other great workout systems and supplements to help you get healthy and get in the best shape of your life.